Analysis & Commentary

Economic warfare is now the default instrument of coercive statecraft for confronting challenges to the international order. Sanctions have become President Barack Obama’s weapon of choice to combat Iran’s nuclear program, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Assad regime in Syria, and...

As the P5+1 and Iran enter the final days to conclude a nuclear agreement, the details of the emerging deal are becoming clearer. In the final deal, Iran is likely to receive substantial payments from oil assets currently held in escrow accounts.

FDD Senior Fellow David Andrew Weinberg is the principal author of a new report outlining the dangerous consequences that could result if the United States continues to condone or ignore human rights abuses by the Saudi Arabian government.

General Michael Hayden, former NSA and CIA director, provided remarks on the transformation of economic coercions and the evolution of targeted sanctions, which he called “the precision-guided weapons of the 21st century.”

CSIF Senior Counselor Juan Zarate offered remarks on the vision and goals of the Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance. He noted that we have entered a new era in which financial power and economic influence are central to national security and are filling the gap between diplomacy and...

The White House insists that sanctions relief has provided Iran with less of a windfall than Tehran had hoped. The administration claims, that in the first half of last year, Iran’s direct revenues in cash and non-oil exports were over $2 billion less than Washington had predicted – $4.6...

On November 10, 2014, the Egypt-based jihadist group Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis (ABM) – already notorious for its attacks on Egyptian security forces and religious minorities, and for utilizing brutal methods such as beheadings – pledged its allegiance (bayat) to the self-proclaimed caliphate...